Daily Archives: August 7, 2018

Less than 2 months before Zach Smith was investigated in 2015 for domestic violence & felonious assault against Courtney Smith, Shelley Meyer was featured speaker at Birmingham conference to draw awareness to ongoing fight to eradicate domestic violence https://t.co/fcxi8GKyeI

On-going construction of the University of Missouri’s new south end zone complex at Memorial Stadium has forced the Tigers to switch sidelines for their 2018 home football games, school officials announced today. For the first time since the 2000 season, Mizzou will work from the West sideline while its opponents will occupy the East sideline.

… In order to implement this plan for the 2018 season, Mizzou asked for and received a waiver from the SEC’s Commissioner’s Regulations, which do not permit the visiting team bench to be directly in front of the student section. The waiver was granted based upon the unique circumstances associated with the on-going construction, the natural buffer that exists between the visiting team bench and student sections at Memorial Stadium, the lack of alternate routes available to prevent the teams from crossing paths when entering/exiting the field and Mizzou’s commitment to secure the visiting team bench area.

“We are grateful for the assistance we received from Commissioner Sankey and his staff, and believe that we have an effective plan in place to provide a safe and secure bench area for visiting teams at Memorial Stadium this season,” Sterk said.

So, when Georgia travels to Columbia this fall, the team bench will be directly in front of the student section. (Evidently there is some sort of a “natural buffer” between the two.) Nobody I know who’s traveled to Mizzou has been less than complimentary about the fans there, so this should be cool.

Still, it probably wouldn’t hurt to keep those helmets close by, boys.

KIRBY SMART IS an assistant under Saban at LSU in his late 20s, working long and grueling hours. One day, Saban calls his staff together. Something is bothering him, and it’s not the game plan for Florida. He wants to offer some advice to his coaches. “All you young guys had better hurry up and figure out who you’re going to get married to because if you’re not careful, you’ll be sitting on the porch alone when you’re 60,” says Saban, who’s been together with his wife, Terry, since they were in high school.

The lecture sticks with Smart. When Saban leaves to coach the Dolphins, Smart takes a job at Georgia, where he meets Mary Beth, a former Bulldogs basketball player working in the athletic department. They get married a year after they start dating. Smart rejoins Saban in Miami the same year, then moves with him to Alabama.

After nine seasons with Saban, Smart becomes the coach at Georgia. In 2017, the Bulldogs defeat Auburn in the SEC championship game, earning a spot in the College Football Playoff. Smart is on his way to watch tape when his phone rings. It’s Saban, calling to congratulate his protégé. Smart is stunned.

“I thought it was very thoughtful that he did that,” Smart says. “I’m sure Miss Terry made him do it. That’s OK too.”

Miami is fourth there, so to some extent Mark Richt is always gonna Mark Richt.

But as far as Georgia goes, think about what kind of resources you have to marshal in order to make 272 offers (24 more than Alabama!) that are properly researched — and seeing as this is Kirby Smart we’re talking about here, you can be damned sure every one of ’em has been properly researched. There’s a lot of work, a lot of people and a lot of money that has to go into making that click.

Bill Connelly absolutely nails the root source of my reluctance to embrace the possibility that this is the year South Carolina takes the SEC East by storm.

They adopt the slowest possible tempo, which helps cut down on the overall number of plays and possessions — a good way for a team with a per-play disadvantage to increase variance. And while I’m sure he doesn’t object to scoring, the first goal of a Muschamp offense is to make sure it’s not putting his defense at a disadvantage. He has been a head coach for six years, and he has had only one offense rank higher than 74th in Off. S&P+ and only one defense rank worse than 36th in Def. S&P+.

This isn’t the most aesthetic brand of ball. But it is a way to stay close to your opponent, when you know you probably aren’t going to generate an inherent efficiency or big-play advantage. And it’s going to look better at a school that doesn’t have quite so many talent advantages, especially when you can play the “No one expects us to win!!!” card.

That’s Will Muschamp. And, as Bill notes, to be fair to Boom, sometimes that works and works well, as it has in his second years in both Gainesville and Columbia.

But he’s ditching it now, or so he claims. And he’s relying on a offensive coordinator who’s never taken the wheel for any period longer than a bowl game, about which, by the way, Connelly has this to say:

SC didn’t light the world afire in the bowl win over Michigan, but a turnover advantage and a couple of big run plays allowed a comeback.

In other words, Carolina won that game the way Carolina won all season long.

They do have Deebo Samuel back, and you won’t hear me say that’s not a big deal. It is. But does anyone truly believe without any hesitation whatsoever that Muschamp is breezily walking away from the coaching philosophy that’s defined his career? Even if you’re one of those who accepts that on faith, how realistic is it to expect a seamless transition?

Bill thinks the ‘Cocks won’t have to be as lucky as they were last season to succeed because Samuel makes them better on offense and special teams. But I also notice that S&P+ is projecting 7 regular season wins. The truth is likely to lie somewhere in there, but I think I’ll either need some on the field convincing that the new scheme is up to the task, or Boom’s gonna need some more of that turnover luck.